A Black Door
by Romana Dante
Summary: A black door deep in the TARDIS temps Mickey in the middle of the night, but does he really want to know what's behind it? Set between School Reunion and Rise of the Cybermen.


A Black Door By Romana Dante 

Mickey Smith stared at a black door somewhere in the far reaches of the Doctor's TARDIS. Mickey was relatively new on board, having asked to join the crew on a spur of the moment a few days ago. Or was it weeks? He couldn't really remember, time was so skrewed up on this ship it wasn't even worth the effort trying to keep track. What he did remember though, was how bizarrely hospitable the Doctor had been upon Mickey's arrival. He had enthusiastically showed him around some of the TARDIS's many rooms, even giving Mickey one of his own. It was a small bedroom, right across from Rose's and next door to the kitchen. He had been so intimidated when he first came on; the Doctor had really made him feel welcomed. Which was more then he could say for Rose, but that was a different story.

The only thing Mickey could remember that had caused any kind of trouble between him and the Doctor on that first day, was a black door at the end of the one of the hallways. It had seemed incredibly insignificant at the time, just a tall black door in between a bunch of regular coloured ones. He had asked the Doctor simply what it was, and the Doctor had immediately shrugged him off.

"That's nothing," the Doctor had said, "Over here though..."

"Wait a minute," Mickey had interrupted, "You've ranted about every single room in this thing, and you're not going to tell me what's behind that one door?"

"Right," the Doctor had answered simply, clearly wanting to change the subject, "Now, if you'll look over here..."

"No," Mickey interrupted again.

"No _what_?" asked the Doctor.

"No, I don't want to look over there, I want to know what's behind that door."

"What does it matter?!" The Doctor burst out, "It's just one of thousands! There are plenty of other doors for you to poke your stupid head into so don't worry about that one!" Mickey had nodded, and they had moved on. Deep down though, Mickey had never forgotten about that one black door among many. And that's what had brought him here. Tonight. Standing for hours in front of a door that he was both curious and frightened of at the same time.

The thing of it was, he really didn't want to make the Doctor mad. Granted, he did it all the time, just that day he had managed to accidentally trip over a pipe, which had moved as he fell forward, releasing it's hold on the prison cell, and freed an entire armada of bloodthirsty, alien warriors. One can only imagined how much _that_ had ticked off the Time Lord. From then on, Mickey had decided to be more careful. He had made a strict resolution to no longer anger, annoy, or agitate the Doctor, hoping to establish himself as less of an idiot aboard the TARDIS, and be more a part of the team. His goal was shattered, when he found himself opening to door to the Doctor's forbidden black room.

He wasn't sure how he had gotten there. He had been asleep in his room across from Rose, though Rose wasn't in hers. It was another typical night where she had said she was going to bed at the same time as Mickey, and had even waved before walking into her room in her pajamas. But Mickey knew the second she had seen his light turn off, she had run out of there to join the Doctor in the console room, doing whatever it was they did late at night. Despite this, Mickey never found it hard to fall asleep in his room, the bed behind surprisingly comfortable for a spaceship. He had only laid down for a second it seemed, when he suddenly woke to find himself at the door.

Should he open it? The question agonized him for hours. He had paced, he had stood still, he sat across the hall from it, he had even tried to sleep at one point, but no matter what he did he couldn't seem to make a decision. The obvious, and probably more favourable choice would be to listen to the Doctor and leave it untouched. It was appealing, in that the Doctor wouldn't suddenly lose trust in Mickey and throw him out on the streets at the mercy of Rose's mother Jackie, and he wouldn't have to feel guilty for the rest of his life. However, the option of opening the door, though probably far worse then any other choice Mickey may have made over the course of his life, was equally as appealing in an almost dangerous kind of way. Who knows what was behind that door, it was the TARDIS! It could be anything! The thrill of rushing into the unknown, though more suited perhaps for the Doctor and Rose, appealed to Mickey as well, and as he stood facing just that, the unknown, he found it harder and harder to resist the urge.

_Maybe just a peek..._thought Mickey _one little look can't hurt..._Those were famous last words and he knew it. He had seen enough horror and action movies to know that saying "one look can't hurt" would lead to disaster. Yet something inside him was pushing him to go in anyway. He couldn't explain it, it was just...an urge. One that for once, he couldn't ignore. Slowly, carefully, he turned the knob of the door...

Nothing happened. He opened the door, and found nothing but an empty room. _Damn it,_ he thought to himself, _All that torture for nothing!_ He stepped inside; closing the door behind him so the Doctor wouldn't see anyone was there, should he suddenly decide to walk down this particular hallway. Suddenly, as the door shut, the room became darker. The familiar hum of the TARDIS started to grow fainter, until soon he couldn't hear or see anything. The air around him changed, as if he had suddenly gone outside somewhere, as if he was no longer within the safe, climate-controlled walls of the Doctor's time machine. Frantically, he looked around for some signs of comfort or life, but found nothing but darkness.

"Hello?!" He shouted into the outdoor nothingness, "Is anyone there?!"

_They're dead..._

"What?!"

_They've died...they've all gone..._

"What? What's going on?! Whose died?! Whose all gone?!"

_The only one left..._

"What..." a wave of emotional pain suddenly hit Mickey, pain like he had never experienced before. It was a strange, almost alien feeling of loss and guilt and pain and exhaustion, all mixed together into one emotion Mickey couldn't possibly think to describe. He tried to run, running desperately in every direction to try and ignore the voices that were screaming in the darkness.

_Everyone's dead..._

"NO!" Mickey shouted in terror, "They're here! They're right outside!"

_They've all died..._

"I don't believe you!"

_You're the only one left..._

"I can't be!" Mickey shouted, "It's not true!"

_All alone..._

"It's not true!" Mickey repeated, suddenly being struck by an intense feeling of loneliness to add to his already confused emotions, "It's not true!"

_All alone..._

"NO!" Mickey shouted again, falling to his knees in complete despair, tears dripping down his cheeks and hitting the cold ground beneath him, "It's not true! Please! It's not true!

_All al-_

"STOP IT!" A different voice, one with more power and command then Mickey had ever heard in his life suddenly overpowered the noise. In an instant, the voices faded, the outdoor air dissipated and Mickey found himself on his knees in the center of an empty TARDIS room. He looked up, terrified by his experience, and suddenly became even more frightened. There, standing in the doorway of the room, stood the tall figure of the Doctor. He looked down at Mickey, his eyes intense with fury and anger, but also appearing to look almost sympathetic. Either way, Mickey was in more trouble then he could imagine. "Console." said the Doctor in a voice that would make most people want to shrivel up and die, "Now." Shaken and terrified, Mickey nodded and followed the Doctor into the hallway, taking one last look at the large black door closing behind him. He had never been more desperate to get away from something in his entire life.

"When I say 'don't go into the room', I mean just that...DON'T GO INTO THE ROOM!" Mickey had never seen the Doctor this furious. It was frightening, but still not nearly as terrifying as sitting in that room had been. The thought of the voices and the feeling of complete lonely hopelessness was something Mickey would probably never forget, and it terrified him even now. As he watched the Doctor yell at him, he noticed he would occasionally stroke the TARDIS for comfort or to calm himself down. Rose had told him once that the Doctor's mind and the mind of the TARDIS were often times one in the same. It could tell how the Doctor was feeling as easily as he could tell _its_ feelings. They were linked, she said, symbiotically...whatever that meant.

The room had been so driven by feelings and emotions, that Mickey began to wonder exactly how much of the TARDIS was just an extension of the Doctor's mind. Looking at his eyes, he could tell that deep down that room existed somewhere in the depths of the Doctor's mind at all times. It was something Mickey couldn't imagine, dealing with all that pain all the time. And he suddenly understood why he shouldn't have seen it. "I'm sorry," he said simply.

"SORRY?!" The Doctor roared, "Sorry doesn't even begin to cut it, Mickey the idiot, I want you out of my TARDIS as soon as I can set the coordinates to London! You have lost your privileges of traveling in time!" Mickey stood silently, feeling he deserved what he got. He had seen a part of the Doctor's mind that he shouldn't have. And now he had to pay.

"Doctor..." Rose Tyler suddenly appeared from behind the console, she tapped him on the shoulder and gently said, "I want him to stay."

"He can't" the Doctor said coldly, "Not after what he did."

"It was just one mistake," Rose said without a hint of whining in her voice, "He did one thing, can't you give him that."

"I don't do second chances," was the Doctor's icy reply, "Maybe in my last body, but not now."

"But..."Rose said after a few second, "He said he was sorry..." The Doctor looked up at this. Maybe it was the sincerity of Mickey's sorry, finally hitting him that made him do it, or maybe, more likely he thought, it was the pleading in Rose's voice. The Doctor was always more apt to listen to Rose. He looked straight at Mickey.

"Do you swear you will never go into another room in here, I less I tell you you can?"

"I swear," Mickey said, with enough seriousness to surprise even himself.

"Fine," said the Doctor, pulling down a lever and pressing something on the screen, "You can stay. For now." Mickey breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor rounded the console, "But if I _ever_ catch you in a room like that again, it's straight back to London with you, _if_ I'm feeling generous." Mickey nodded understandingly, "Right. Rose, you said you wanted to go to that beach planet near Andromeda?"

"Yeah," was Rose's timid response. She turned and looked at Mickey as the Doctor fiddled with the console. In her eyes, Mickey could tell that she hadn't fought for him to stay simply for more company. She had seen the room too, and it scared her just as much as him.


End file.
